Chapter 59: Who Burned My Benefactor to Death?

"Mistress, security agencies are professional at tracking people down, but their fees are extremely high."

Gu Xingwan untied a piece of exquisite jade from her neck, which was virtually the only valuable possession she had left. After a reluctant, lingering touch, she handed it to Tingzheng:

"Take this jade pendant and pawn it first, then have the Longmen Escort Agency send men to Jiaozhou."

"Jiaozhou? Isn't that the hometown of that bitch Jian Aozhu?"

"Indeed."

"Who is the mistress looking for?"

"A scholar in Jiaozhou named Zhou Qingshu."

"Zhou Qingshu, Zhou Qingshu. Understood, Mistress, this maid will remember it and go to the Longmen Escort Agency tomorrow."

According to the original book, Jian Aozhu was extremely dissolute in Jiaozhou.

That system of hers was nothing good; to steal a man's reputation points, she had to engage in illicit affairs with him.

Therefore, the original novel could only be published on some obscure minor website, being a work of pure smut after all.

As the female protagonist of the book, Jian Aozhu was far from a chaste woman; she could practically be described as a biological breeding matrix.

Mei Xianghan would never have dreamed that the newly wedded bride had long since cuckolded him, turning his head into a vast, boundless green prairie.

Oh, Jian Aozhu, Jian Aozhu.

She seemed like a destined heroine backed by a system, but in reality, she was riddled with scandalous dark history, ready to explode at any moment.

Yet, regarding her own past, Jian Aozhu had her own unique perspective.

In the original book, she always said: "Those are not dark histories; they are the path I walked to get here."

***

For someone who stopped at nothing to achieve her goals, Gu Xingwan had no intention of dawdling. She decided to strike instantly with an absolute trump card.

...

For three consecutive days, Lu Lan buried himself in Water-Cloud Pavilion, meticulously crafting fragrant coal briquettes, while the preparations for the estate's wedding proceeded in full swing.

Lu Lan followed Gu Xingwan's steps precisely, not daring to alter a single detail.

First, he soaked the black stones for two days, and after they softened, he separated the coal from the sediment and sand.

He continued to soak the coal in clean water, adding two liang of yeast per ten jin of weight, let it sit for a day, and then took it out to dry in the sun.

Next, he boiled the coal in a pot, passed it through a fine sieve, and air-dried it.

Thus, he obtained coal free of toxic gases.

Lu Lan set up ten large cauldrons in the courtyard all at once, boiling them simultaneously—what a magnificent spectacle it was.

Had all the breathing servants of the estate not been drafted to prepare for the wedding, two or three hundred people would surely have gathered around Water-Cloud Pavilion to see what kind of nonsense their Young Prince was up to.

After the coal dried, he mixed it with yellow clay and sawdust in various proportions, adding water to form "fragrant coal briquettes."

This was also the most difficult step: to find the optimal ratio among coal, yellow clay, sawdust, and water that would produce a bright, long-lasting flame at a low cost.

"Hahahaha! It worked! This young master has done it! Hahahahaha!"

At lunchtime, Tong Yan and Yourong were busy setting dishes on the Eight Immortals table when they heard Lu Lan, covered from head to toe in black soot, holding up a coal briquette and laughing like a madman.

How could he not laugh? A despised toxic mountain had suddenly transformed into a mountain of gold and silver; this was even more joyful than stumbling upon a fortune.

Lu Lan had already tested several batches. There was not a trace of toxic gas, the fire burned fiercely and lasted long, and the ratio of yellow clay to sawdust was just right, greatly reducing the amount of coal needed.

A rough calculation showed that for fragrant coal briquettes made according to this ratio, the cost per cart was only five qian of silver. Selling it for eight qian wouldn't be unreasonable at all.

***

The cheapest cart of charcoal in the capital cost three liang of silver, while top-tier tribute-grade charcoal, such as "silver charcoal" and "red radish charcoal," cost fifty liang per cart.

The price of one cart of ordinary charcoal could buy nearly four carts of fragrant coal briquettes.

With the problem of toxic gas resolved, he now had sufficient confidence to negotiate with Pang Shiyuan.

He stretched his neck and bellowed at the top of his lungs: "Salted Fish! Salted Fish!"

Salted Fish came running, panting like an ox—right now, the estate wished they could split every single person into three.

"My Lord, you called for me?"

"Put down what you're doing for a moment, go to Tobacco Pouch Diagonal Alley, find an inn called Post-Fragrance Pavilion, and bring Pang Shiyuan here to see me."

Salted Fish blinked his eyes and stood motionless.

"Go on! What are you standing there for?"

"My Lord, don't you know?"

"Know what?"

"Post-Fragrance Pavilion caught fire last night, and the entire Tobacco Pouch Diagonal Alley burned down along with it. If Mr. Pang didn't leave quickly... by now he's probably already gone to report at the Bridge of Helplessness."

The smile on Lu Lan's face melted away like ice and snow:

"Damn it! Which bastard set the fire? They've burned my benefactor to death!"

Stunned into a daze, Lu Lan was instantly consumed by rage. Wasn't this someone deliberately making things difficult for him?!